Football: Barkley emerges a winner

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There were times when Matt Barkley looked like the second coming of Matt Leinart ... and others when he looked like the second coming of Michael McDonald.

In the first game of his final season before heading to USC, the Mater Dei quarterback passed for 301 yards and six touchdowns during the Monarchs’ 46-43, triple-overtime victory over Carson at Long Beach Veterans Stadium. He also had four passes intercepted, two of which were tipped and two that he acknowledged were attributable to poor decisions.

Barkley snuffed out a first-and-goal opportunity in the fourth quarter when he threw a pass that was intercepted in the end zone. ‘I was just on my back foot and got some pressure,’ said Barkley, who played part of the game with a stinger in his left shoulder.

In the second overtime, Barkley underthrew a pass that was intercepted by linebacker A.J. Ropati.

But Barkley got the job done in the third overtime when he lofted a perfect pass to Derek Campbell in the corner of the end zone for the game-winning touchdown.

‘A win’s a win,’ Barkley said.

--Ben Bolch